31 Desember 2012

Network centric concept of the RTAF (all photos : wing7)The air force will improve its radar-based defence system next year and link it to the army and navy for joint missions.

It intends to replace ageing radars and support facilities with new systems to search for airborne targets under the Royal Thai Air Force Defence System (RTAD), said air force chief Prajin Jantong.The air force will be able to communicate with the navy's frigates _ HTMS Naresuan and HTMS Taksin _ and the navy's aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet.The communications facilities of these vessels are being upgraded, a military source said.Earlier, the air force bought 12 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden along with two Saab 340 AEW early warning aircraft and a Saab 340 transport plane for 34 billion baht.

Linking the air force with the navy will enable joint operations in the future, the source said.Connections will also be expanded to the army under the air force's "Network Centric" plan to link the systems of the three armed forces. The plan will be completed in 2014, the source said.Meanwhile, ACM Prajin also wants the air force's new communications facilities to be applied to disaster response efforts _ a goal backed by Asean defence ministers who have agreed to work in concert in the field of regional disaster relief in the lead-up to the Asean Economic Community in 2015.(Bangkok Post)

Manila,
Philippines – As the military builds up its air defense capabilities, the
Philippine Air Force (PAF) is acquiring three radars with a project cost of
about P2.3 billion, said PAF vice commander Major General Raul Dimatatac.

Interviewed
at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, Dimatatac told reporters, “We are
looking at installing three radars for our three major sites.“

The radars,
he said, are among those listed in the PAF’s wish list in the P75-billion
military modernization budget in the next five years.

“Although we
were given by the government P75 billion for the next five years . . . we have
a lot of concerns insofar as security is concerned so we really have to
prioritize,“ said Dimatatac.

He added
that for the Air Force, among the items lined up for acquisition aside from the
radar system are surface attack aircraft (SAA), light lift and long range
patrol aircraft, and additional UH1H helicopters.

The PAF vice
commander has earlier expressed pleasure over the activation of the third three
C-130 Lockheed Hercules cargo plane in the PAF inventory.

The military
recommissioned on Friday some of its air and ground assets that underwent major
refurbishment, with all the work done locally.

Among the
recommissioned assets aside from the C-130 were a Cessna 210, the PAF’s
platform for rainmaking, one UH1H combat utility helicopter, and 12 M-35
trucks.

“This is
definitely a big improvement to the PAF’s airlift capability, considering that
for the past years, we only one C130 aircraft in service,“ said Dimatatac.

He added the
three C-130 cargo planes will allow the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
to support the government in its various development and relief missions.

Aside from
improving the PAF’s cargo lift capability, Dimatatac said that the three
aircraft has definitely boosted the morale of their aircrew as they now know
that they have a sufficient number of planes to perform their missions.

Kia KM451 field ambulance (photo : top81)Gazmin says the purchases show the country’s “louder and clearer” intent to modernize its military.The Philippine military is fighting a decades-long communist insurgency and battling Islamic militants while facing increasing tension over territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

Reporter:
China's first large military transport aircraft Y-20 before exposure, please
tell us about the R & D Y-20. Will the Y-20 and when fielded forces, fitted
out how improved transport capacity in China?

Yang Yujun:
To meet the needs of the national economy and social development, and service
of military modernization, better disaster relief, humanitarian relief and
other emergency tasks, our country is the development of large transport
aircraft to rely on their own strength, strengthen air transport capacity
building.

Should be
noted that when the large transport aircraft fitted out development of any kind
of equipment has its own laws, large transport aircraft is no exception. The
technical complexity of large transport aircraft, the need to go through a
series of research and development process of the design, prototype, test, test
flight of China's large aircraft research and development work is progressing
according to plan forward.

27 Desember 2012

DND Office
for Public Affairs | 27 December 2012 - The contract of agreement for the
acquisition of three naval helicopters was signed at the Department of National
Defense last December 20, 2012.

With a
contract price of PhP 1, 337,176,584.00 and signed between the Armed Forces of
the Philippines and supplier AugustaWestland S.P.A, the acquisition project was
done under negotiated procurement through Section 53.2 (Emergency Procurement)
of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of R.A. 9184.

“The
acquisition of these naval helicopters is one concrete step towards the
fulfillment of our goal to modernize the Philippine Navy, and our Armed Forces
in general,” Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said.

On November
28, 2012, AugustaWestland was declared by the Naval Helicopter Acquisition
Project (NHAP) Negotiating Committee as the single calculated and responsive
proponent after going through the process of a negotiated procurement.

The Italian
Ministerio Della Difesa conducted a review of AugustaWestland’s proposal for
the procurement of AW 109 Power Helicopter, including related logistic support
and found out that the price per helicopter “seems to have been progressively
reduced”, meaning they were sold cheaper.

Upon the
recommendation of the DND Bids and Awards Committee, the Secretary of National
Defense issued a notice of award last December 4, 2012.

“With the
other projects in the pipeline and our planned acquisition, we are now louder
and clearer in our intent to upgrade the capability of our AFP to address its
constitutional duty to “secure the sovereignty of the state and the integrity
of the national territory’,” Gazmin said. ***

26 Desember 2012

Ten 40-meter MRRVs to be used by the Philippine Coast Guard expected to arrive in 2014 (photo : Militaryphotos)

MANILA,
Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday it is not
expecting to receive additional ships in 2013, but the Aquino administration is
purchasing at least 10 new vessels that are scheduled to arrive at least by
2014.

“Since all
of the ships to be purchased by the Coast Guard are brand new, it would take
some months to construct. So hopefully, by 2014 they would start arriving,” PCG
commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena said.

When he took
over as PCG chief last Dec. 14, Isorena said one of his priorities is to
improve the agency’s capabilities.

He said
Malacañang has given its approval to procure 10 40-meter search and rescue
vessels from Japan that will be delivered within three years, from 2014 until
2017.

There are
also plans to procure an 82-meter ship and four 24-meter vessels from France,
but Isorena said these are not yet final.

24 Desember 2012

In early
December of outfitting the wall "Admiralty Shipyards" to the factory
sea trials in the Baltic Sea came submarine of project export series 06361. On
the test boat will be based in Port Light near Kaliningrad. Correspondent
Central Navy Portal source said the company.

The first
phase of the factory running tests (ZHI) is planned for the end of December,
this period will be deep dive boat.

The total
period of the entire test program - nearly five months.

To comply
with contractual obligations to release the order for the ship ZHI organized
two, and sometimes three shifts. Last month shipbuilders worked virtually
around the clock.

Since this
order - the head, then it establishes a number of new and upgraded systems and
complexes. Thus, the project for the first time have the latest system of life
of personnel ship (removal of pressure in the compartments and nitrogen
fire-fighting). This system has already passed successfully tested on
non-nuclear submarine "Saint Petersburg". Installation, testing and
commissioning of the system on the project took a long time 06361 costs and
special training commissioning team.

Skilled
shipyard had to learn the new computerized system. Now they will have to share
the skills learned from the crew of the Russian military, and then - to learn a
foreign team. Due to the significant complexity of equipment for training the
crew to customer country devoted almost five months, although the previous
similar studies did not exceed two weeks.

The number
of teams in the acceptance ZHI - 52. Increased acceptance team composition is
explained not only by the necessity test of new and upgraded systems, but also
the training of young specialists.

Immediately
after the holidays to start learning a foreign crew. For this to be six outputs
boat at sea for 10-12 days each.

In early
May, the parent order - serial number 01339 - to get back to the dock yard.
After removal of comments and audit SSK again come to sea in
priemoperedatochnye test.

Transfer of
the first order under the contract series is scheduled for August 2013.

Bookmark
boats took place in 2010, they let down the order for the water August 28,
2012.

According to
unconfirmed reports, the head boat the customer given the name
"Hanoi".

Submarines
of the Admiralty building will be the main submarine Navy customer country -
Vietnam. Under the contract, worth about $ 2 billion, signed between Vietnam
and Russia in December 2009, JSC "Admiralty Shipyards" to build a
series of six diesel-electric submarines of Project 06361 deadlines -
2013-2016. This is the most ambitious program of cooperation between Russia and
Vietnam in the segment of naval technology.

Cambodia's
air force will be strengthened by the arrival of 12 military helicopters,
including four attack choppers, from China next year, government officials said
yesterday.

Prak Sokha,
a spokesman for the Royal Cambodian Air Force, told the Post yesterday that 25
Cambodian pilots and mechanics were training in China in preparation for the
Kingdom receiving the Chinese-made Z-9 helicopters between April and August.

“We expect
that by April, some of them will finish their training and will return with two
helicopters,” he said.

Of the 12
helicopters, four would be used for fighting purposes, six for general
transport and two for transporting high-ranking officials, Sokha said.

“What I am
not so clear on is whether the Cambodian government has bought these or whether
they have been granted to us,” Sokha said.The government, boasting of a new era
of cooperation with China, announced in August last year it had struck a deal
with the superpower to receive a batch of Z-9 helicopters for $195 million.
Media reports at the time suggested a loan from China would cover the cost.

About 100
tanks and 40 armoured personnel carriers, believed to be from Ukraine, arrived
at Sihanoukville port in late October, one of the largest single shipments of
military vehicles in Cambodia’s recent history.

Sam Rainsy
Party lawmaker Son Chhay said he was concerned about the percentage of the
national budget allocated to military spending and the fact the government was
making decisions about purchases without debate in parliament.

“We have
doubts about equipment that is not accounted for or [deals] that are not
transparent,” he said.

Chhay said
military equipment from China was often expensive and of poor quality and the
origin and volume of Cambodia’s military acquisitions were a topic for
parliament.

“We as
parliamentarians have a right to know,” he said.

Mey Vann, a
director from the Ministry of Finance, could not be reached for comment.

22 Desember 2012

RAAF Growler (image : forcesdz)The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $101,862,000 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-C-0086) to exercise an option for the procurement of 12 EA-18G Lot 37 Full Rate Production (FRP) Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) Kits.Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md. (41.1 percent); St. Louis, Mo. (36.3 percent); Bethpage, N.Y. (19 percent); and Fort Wayne, Ind. (3.6 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2015.Contract funds in the amount of $101,862,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.(US DoD)

21 Desember 2012

Raytheon
Co., SAS, McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a $25,700,000 firm-fixed-price
delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement
(N00019-10-G-0006) for the procurement of six Advanced Targeting Forward
Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pods in support of the F/A-18 C/D aircraft for the
Government of Malaysia under the Foreign Military Sales Program.

ATFLIR pods (photo : Raytheon)

Work will be
performed in McKinney, Texas (90 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (8 percent);
Midland, Ontario, Canada (1 percent), and the Harlow, Essex, United Kingdom (1
percent) and is expected to be completed in July 2017.

Contract
funds in the amount of $24,289,029 will be obligated at time of award, none of
which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems
Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

D-VEX
systems have been integrated into the Shadow 200 UAV (photo : General Dynamics)

System helps
manage large volumes of full motion video and turns data into real-time
actionable intelligence for forward-deployed forces

CANBERRA,
Australia - General Dynamics Mediaware has delivered two video capture and
exploitation D-VEX systems to the Australian Army, enhancing the distribution
of mission-critical, actionable intelligence among Australian troops and
coalition forces. The systems have been integrated into the Shadow 200 Tactical
Unmanned Aerial System (TUAS) operating in Afghanistan.

D-VEX is a
versatile and portable video exploitation system that captures and manages full
motion video from airborne surveillance platforms. Designed for in-theater
operations, the system also works with commercially-available compact mobile
hardware, such as a laptop.

"D-VEX
provides the Australian Army with next-generation tools for real-time and
forensic analysis of airborne surveillance video," said Michael Manzo,
director of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems' Geospatial Solutions
Imagery Systems division. "It will enhance and streamline the Army's
ability to derive timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence from the
Shadow TUAS."

With the
ability to record and index video with metadata to derive real-time actionable
intelligence, D-VEX provides users with detailed forensic analysis through its
comprehensive search and mark-up capabilities. D-VEX also supports open defence
standards, including the Motion Imagery Standards Profile (MISP) and STANAG
4609.

"Managing
the thousands of hours of video collected by the Shadow 200 TUAS presented the
Army with a sizable data processing and analytics challenge," said Dr. Kevin
Moore, chief technology officer of General

Australian-based
General Dynamics Mediaware,part of General Dynamics Advanced Information
Systems, is a leading global provider of digital video technology. Please visit
www.mediaware.com.au for more information about the benefits of standards-compliant
compressed video and audio processing in an all-digital network.

MANILA,
Philippines - Newly-installed Navy flag officer in command Vice Admiral Jose
Luis Alano wants to retire the country's old and "antiquated" ships
and replace them with new ones to better protect the country's territorial
waters.

Alano, in
his speech at the turnover ceremonies on Wednesday, said these old ships were
deemed "excess baggage" for the country's naval force and he vowed to
"rationalize current operational assets, review the modernization program,
taking a deliberate look at the phase-in and phase-out scheme."

Alano
replaced Vice Admiral Alexander Pama.

Alano, who
once served as the head of the country's Navy Fleet, said he would recommend
equipment that would make the Navy a "relevant" force in defending
the country's territory, amid the ongoing dispute with China over islands in
the West Philippine Sea.

"I come
at an opportune time, when we are fleeting up with new capabilities like WHECs
(weather high endurance cutters), frigates, naval helicopters, MPACs
(multi-purpose attack crafts), AAVs (amphibious assault vehicles), as well as
individual Marine and special warfare combat equipment," he said.

Alano also
vowed to review the country's "active archipelagic defense" strategy
with an eye at achieving the Fleet's "desired force mix."

Aquino also
said that in just over a year, his administration was able to put in P28
billion for the AFP, allowing the military to procure two Hamilton class
cutters (BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz) and the arrival of BRP
Tagbanua, the first Filipino-made landing craft utility.

20 Desember 2012

In December 2011, Indonesia purchased from Russia an additional batch of six multi-role Su-30MK2. The deal was for $ 470 million (photo : Fuerza Aerea)

VEB Will Lend
the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia

State
Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs
(Vnesheconombank)" and the Republic of Indonesia through the Ministry of
Finance of the Republic of Indonesia signed a loan agreement.

The document
will provide Vnesheconombank Ministry of Finance of Indonesia credit facilities
totaling $ 399.5 million for the period of 7 years.

These loans
will be used to finance the delivery of Russian aircraft to the Republic of
Indonesia under the export contract between JSC "Rosoboronexport" and
the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia.

The credit
agreement is the second transaction concluded with the Ministry of Finance of
Vnesheconombank the Republic of Indonesia for the past two years.

This
agreement demonstrates the progressive development of relations between the two
countries and meets targets set at the eighth meeting of the Russian-Indonesian
Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation.
Vnesheconombank's participation in financing the project promotes the export of
Russian high technology products to South-East Asia.